The present invention relates in general to dispensing applications, and particularly, to fluid jet printing systems that make use of replaceable printing components having an onboard intelligence for controlling fluid delivery and monitoring the parameters of fluid usage.
Fluid jet printers typically make use of fluid jet printheads that move relative to a printing media, such as paper, to deposit a fluid, such as ink, on the printing media. This can be accomplished using different types of fluid jet printers, including, for example, an impulse or drop-on-demand ink jet printer where the printing media moves relative to the printheads, a carriage ink jet printer where the printheads move relative to the printing media, and the like.
In an impulse or drop-on-demand ink jet printer, one or more chambers, including one or more ejection orifices are typically provided. A droplet of ink is ejected from each orifice in response to a contraction of volume in the chamber typically caused by the state of energization of a transducer that may be made, for example, from a piezo-electric material. Ink jet printers employing impulse or drop-on-demand ink jets typically have the same resolution in both the X and Y direction. This resolution permits a wide range of printing, including bar codes as well as alpha-numeric characters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,093 entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus For Printing With Ink Jet Chambers Utilizing a Plurality of Orificesxe2x80x9d describes a typical drop-on-demand ink jet printer.
Some ink jet printers make use of an ink jet printhead mounted within a carriage that is moved back and forth across a print media, such as paper. In operation of the printing system, the movement of the printhead across the print media is controlled by a main control system that also acts to activate the printhead to deposit or eject ink droplets onto the print media to form images and text. Ink is provided to the printhead by a supply of ink that is either carried by the carriage or mounted to the printing system so that it does not move with the carriage. For the case where the ink supply is not carried with the carriage, the ink supply can be intermittently or continuously connected to the printhead for replenishing the printhead. In either case, the replaceable printing components, such as the ink container and the printhead, require periodic repair and/or replacement. The ink supply is replaced when it is exhausted. The printhead is repaired, as needed, or replaced at the end of the printhead life.
In order to guarantee a reliable printer operation, it is standard to monitor the supply of printing medium in, for example, an ink reservoir. For example, DE-A1-3 405 164 discloses an arrangement for ink printing equipment wherein an ink reservoir is provided for the acceptance of printer ink; the reservoir can comprise an electronic memory means or a coding in which status data of the printer ink relevant to the printer operation are unerasably stored. These data stored in a ROM or as coding (color marking) can be registered trademarks of the manufacture or data about the type of ink employed.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,312, entitled xe2x80x9cArrangement For Printer Equipment For Monitoring Reservoirs That Contain Printing Mediumxe2x80x9d, describes an ink jet printing system having bottles for printing equipment having an electronic memory means in the form of a chip for storing status data of the printing medium relevant to a printing operation. For example, the status data may include information about the current fill status of the bottle and/or other status data, such as the expiration date of the printing medium. The used status of printing medium is acquired via the central controller of the main printing equipment and is communicated to the chip. The chip at the bottle counts consumption until the supply of printing medium (ink fluid, inked ribbon, toner) is exhausted to such an extent that the bottle must be replaced. A reprogramming of the chip and, thus refilling of the bottle is not possible.
Furthermore, ink jet printer equipment continues to be especially sensitive in view of the composition of the ink fluid employed. For example, an ink that is not matched to the ink printing system may lead to a destruction of the printing head. For this reason, it is desirable to prevent used ink reservoirs that are refilled in an uncontrolled fashion, for example by outside manufacturers with ink having an unknown composition, from being reused.
Typically, the data are input once when the ink reservoir is manufactured and are then interrogated upon insertion into the printer. Given lack of coincidence of the data with data stored in a memory, printing may be suppressed.
It is also frequently desirable to alter the parameters of the main printing system concurrently with the replacement of printer components, such as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,091 entitled xe2x80x9cReplaceable Part With Integral Memory For Usage, Calibration And Other Dataxe2x80x9d. U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,091 discloses the use of a memory device, which contains parameters relating to the replaceable part. The installation of the replaceable part allows the main printer to access the replaceable part parameters to insure high print quality. By incorporating the memory device into the replaceable part and storing replaceable part parameters in the memory device within the replaceable component, the main printing system can determine these parameters upon installation of the replaceable component into the main printing system. This automatic updating of printer parameters frees the user from having to update printer parameters each time a replaceable component is newly installed. The main printer system uses these parameters to control the operation of the printer to ensure high print quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,430 entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus For Storing and Retrieving Information On a Replaceable Printing Componentxe2x80x9d describes an ink jet printing system including a replaceable printing component for use in the main printing system. The replaceable printing component includes a memory portion associated therewith for storing information that does not relate directly to normal operation of the printing system. Also included is a main control portion of the printer equipment for providing information to the memory portion associated with the replaceable printing component.
However, these conventional ink jet printing systems lack a stand alone fluid delivery system having an onboard intelligence capable of controlling fluid delivery and monitoring the parameters of fluid usage independently of the main controller and electronics of the main printing system. Also, traditional ink jet printing systems do not have a reliable communication link for transferring information in an ink laden environment. In addition, conventional systems can be unreliable due to failures caused by the introduction of unknown inks into the printing system that may be non-compatible with the other components of the printing system. These conventional systems also lack a means for recording these instances of unknown ink usage that might otherwise be useful in enforcing the provisions of warranty and/or service agreements. Therefore, a need exists for a new intelligent fluid delivery system for controlling fluid delivery and monitoring the parameter of fluid usage in an ink jet printing system.
The present invention is directed to a fluid jet printing system having an intelligent fluid delivery system for controlling fluid delivery and monitoring the parameters of fluid usage in a fluid jet printing system. The fluid jet printing system includes a stand alone intelligent fluid delivery system having an onboard intelligence capable of controlling fluid delivery and monitoring the parameters of fluid usage independently of the main controller and electronics of the main printing system.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the present invention is directed to a system for controlling fluid delivery and the parameters of fluid usage in a fluid jet printing system including a base. station, a fluid bottle, and a communication link between the base station and the fluid bottle. The stand alone base station is removeably mounted to the fluid jet printing system and includes a reservoir in the base station for periodically receiving a replenishment volume of a fluid media from the fluid bottle removeably mounted thereto. The base station also includes a fluid measurement and metering system disposed in the base station for detecting a level of fluid media in the reservoir and for metering and measuring a flow of fluid media flowing from the fluid bottle to the reservoir. A base station transponder module is provided at the base station having a memory and a transponder. A micro-controller in disposed in the base station for controlling fluid delivery and monitoring the parameters of fluid usage. The. functions of controlling fluid delivery and monitoring one or more parameters of fluid usage are controlled by the micro-controller independent from the electronics, controllers, or processors of the main printing system. The fluid jet printing system also includes the fluid bottle that is replaceable mounted to the base station for supplying the replenishment volume of fluid media. The fluid bottle includes a cavity defined by one or more sidewalls of the fluid bottle for holding the fluid media. A bottle transponder module is provided at the fluid bottle having a memory and a transponder. A communication link is established between the base station transponder module and the bottle transponder module when the fluid bottle is inserted in the base station.
The present invention also provides a reliable communication link for transferring information between a fluid bottle and a base station of the intelligent fluid delivery system in an ink laden environment.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a wireless communication link is provided for communicating information between the base station and the fluid bottle. In a preferred embodiment, the transducers communicate using radio frequency (RF) techniques. In a more preferred embodiment, the RF techniques further include radio frequency identification (RFID).
The present invention also improves the reliability of the fluid jet printing system and, in particular, the fluid delivery portion of the fluid jet printing system by providing a detection mechanism so that it can be ascertained with near certainty that an inserted fluid bottle is an appropriate fluid bottle having a fluid media that is compatible with the fluid jet printing system (e.g., within the specifications of the printing system and suitable for use with the other components of the ink jet printing system). Preferably, an alarm is activated and fluid delivery is interrupted if an unknown or non-compatible fluid media is detected. Preferably, fluid media delivery is continued when an operator or user acknowledges and overrides the alarm condition. This helps improve the reliability of fluid delivery and fluid management, and hence, the overall performance of the fluid jet printing system by preventing/reducing the use of unknown fluid bottle and/or non-compatible fluid media.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the present invention is directed to a base station having a base station transponder module that interrogates a bottle transponder module of a fluid bottle that is installed therein. The bottle transponder module transmits information to the base station transponder module in response to the interrogation that is indicative of whether the fluid bottle is a known fluid bottle and whether the fluid media contained within the fluid bottle is compatible with the fluid jet printing system.
The information transmitted from the bottle transponder module to the base station transponder module is recorded and stored for later use in enforcing, voiding, and/or adjusting one or more of warranty and service agreements if a non-compatible fluid is used in the fluid jet printing system and a failure occurs as a result of using the non-compatible fluid. Preferably, an alarm indication is activated if an unknown bottle and/or a non-compatible fluid media is installed and the flow of replenishment fluid media from the fluid bottle to the reservoir is interrupted if the fluid bottle is not positively identified by the micro-controller. Preferably, the flow of replenishment fluid media from the fluid bottle to the reservoir is only interrupted until a user acknowledges and overrides an alarm indication.
The present invention also includes a means for recording those instances of unknown ink usage that might otherwise be useful in servicing the fluid jet printing system. This recorded information may also be used in enforcing or modifying the provisions of warranty and/or service agreements in those instances where an unknown bottle is used having a non-compatible ink resulting in a failure. The independent micro-controller of the intelligent fluid delivery system may be programmed to record and store information relating to the fluid bottle, the fluid media, and fluid usage that may be useful in reconstructing the events leading up to a failure in the fluid jet printing system.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling fluid delivery and monitoring the parameters of fluid usage in a fluid jet printing system including the steps of: providing a base station having a base station transponder module having transponder and memory capabilities; providing a fluid bottle having a bottle transponder module having transponder and memory capabilities; removeably mounting the fluid bottle in fluid communication with the base station; and controlling fluid delivery from the fluid bottle to a reservoir of the base station by controlling one or more of metering the flow of fluid and measuring the flow of fluid from the bottle to the reservoir using a micro-controller disposed in the base station, wherein the micro-controller controls fluid delivery and fluid management independently of a main controller which controls the printing operation of the fluid jet printing system.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the method further includes the steps of transferring status and other information relating to fluid delivery and fluid usage from the micro-controller to the main controller via a communications link, wherein the communication link is for the transfer of information only and does not provide any control function to or from the main controller of the main printing system.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the method further includes the steps of: interrogating the bottle transponder module using a source signal generated by the base station transponder module; emitting a response signal containing information relating to one or more of the fluid bottle and the fluid media from the bottle transponder module toward the base station transponder module; and controlling a flow of fluid media from the fluid bottle to the base station based the information contained in the response signal emitted from the bottle transponder module.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the method further includes the step of storing the information contained in a response signal at the base station. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the method further includes the steps of enforcing, voiding, and/or adjusting one or more of warranty and service agreements based on the information contained in the response signal recorded at the base station if a failure occurs due to an unknown bottle or non-compatible fluid media.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the method further includes the step of establishing a wireless communication link to accomplish the steps of interrogating and emitting. In a preferred embodiment, Radio-Frequency techniques are used to establish the wireless communication link.
The intelligent fluid delivery system of the present invention provides an improved fluid delivery system with controlled metering of fluid media, recording capability for the fluid delivery function(s), wireless communication of information between the base station and the fluid bottle, and can also provide communication of status and other information between the base station micro-controller and the main printing system (e.g., OEM provided) controller.
Other features of the invention are described below.